LaVista Hills had everything one might want from a city – sneaky Democrats, misguided Republicans, residents feuding with their neighbors and a brewing scandal on whether something fishy happened with the vote.

It’s a true DeKalb County saga.

The newest cityhood movement looked to be close. And it was. Almost 14,000 people voted; had 69 of them changed their minds and voted for the city, then ambitious neophyte politicians would be practicing their stump speeches for the upcoming mayor's race.

Instead, it did not pass. It was the first north metro cityhood effort to crash and burn. Why was that?

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

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